[New publication] New Issue of The International Journal of Internationalization and Localization: 5 (2), John Benjamins
The International Journal of Internationalization and Localization
Volume 5 Issue 2
Common risks in the translation industry: A sequential exploratory study, by
Abstract: The present research aimed at identifying and categorizing the common risks in the operations of translation companies. It further investigated the maturity level of translation companies in terms of risk management and their attitudes toward the application of a comprehensive risk management framework into their activities. The study had two phases of qualitative and quantitative research. During the qualitative phase, a total of 400 translation projects were observed in four translation companies and further based on the results of the qualitative phase, three questionnaires were developed and sent to 226 translation companies around the world. The researchers identified 44 risk candidates in the operation of translation companies and statistically grouped them into six risk categories. The results further indicated that translation company managers hardly know what risk management is about, while they demonstrated a significant interest in the application of a risk management framework into their activities.
Translating the same text twice: An English-Spanish comparative product study of post-edited translations vs. human translations, by
Abstract: This article presents the results of a study in which students in a graduate translation technologies course post-edited a text they had previously translated earlier in the semester without using machine translation (MT). The results show that post-editing allowed students with performance levels below, at, and just above an established median to improve the quality of their translation products, while students with performances well above the median actually experienced a decrease in quality. Nevertheless, the post-edited products and post-editing performances of the latter remained superior to those of the former. The study shows how different translators experienced gains or not in quality by accepting different aspects of MT output and how the accepted output relates to their human renditions. It also tracks whether their post-edits were necessary and correct and how they relate to their human renditions. Tracking such behaviors attempts to provide a more holistic view of how post-editing might be qualitatively advantageous or disadvantageous.
‘Webbish writing’ for global communication in the Web 3.0, by
Abstract: Advances in information technology and the needs of globalization made English the lingua franca (EFL) of the Web 1.0. Later, multi-modes of computer-mediated communication in the Web 2.0 fostered hybrid English as a new EFL by combing English with other languages. Moving into the Web 3.0 for information mining and knowledge acquisition without a language barrier, the author proposes ‘Webbish’, a controlled form of English, to write web texts for the purpose of gisting through the production of multilingual machine translation (MT) outputs. To demonstrate the effectiveness of ‘Webbish’, an empirical survey was conducted to measure the comprehensibility of the MT of ‘Webbish’ texts based on a 1–100 grading scale. An average score of 89.9 was earned from twenty-four international participants, showing a high degree of MT comprehensibility. Meanwhile, set within the framework of postmodernism, ‘Webbish’ writing takes on postmodernist significance of non-fixed norms, dynamic meanings and an equal right of comprehensible Web information access for global non-English audiences. Its linguistic features are suited to MT application and its fluid meanings are produced due to the MT system’s rendition and different target audiences’ different interpretations. ‘Webbish’ writing suggests acceptance, inclusiveness and equality. It is also an easy way to influence and improve global communication.